


sixteen-hour bonding

by kanaru



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Airplanes, Banter, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24047392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanaru/pseuds/kanaru
Summary: Flight-phobic Kuroo would have never guessed the poor soul to be seated beside him would be so unbelievably attractive with an equally matching personality to his good looks.He also didn't see a painful attachment to form within the sixteen hours spent in the man's company.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Sawamura Daichi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 112





	sixteen-hour bonding

One of many things Kuroo detested was flying. Perhaps if he owned his own set of wings he’d be less bitter, however, in seats too cramped to accommodate his lanky form he couldn’t help but turn into a silently suffering fiend for the entire duration of the flight. The destination on his current flight was none other than the United States, boasting a daunting sixteen-hour journey.

Kuroo sank in his seat in defeat, resisting the urge to scowl horrifically or release some kind of inhumane sound of frustration. Another thing was, not only were the seats uncomfortable, but he was also absolutely terrified of flying.

“Nervous flyer?” A voice asked to his right, startling Kuroo from his nose bridge holding poise and incessant knee jigging. 

They hadn’t even moved yet, but Kuroo must have already been leaking all the signs of someone who really did not want to be on that flight. “A bit,” he answered, not taking a careful look at his seat neighbor. He couldn’t focus on faces in that situation and he certainly would much rather prefer to pretend that there was no one next to him to save himself from embarrassment. 

“I have a friend who is the same way,” the man continued, his voice a gentle timbre. “You got anything to keep you busy?”

“My stupidly loud head and impending sensation of doom, yeah,” Kuroo mirthed to pathetically mask his dread. “Sorry, ignore me—“

He finally looked to his neighbor, his eyes catching the short pushed back hair and graciously Adonis tanned skin. The young man had dark, warm eyes, looking over to Kuroo in a sense of pity and amusement. In all honesty, Kuroo straight up lost his damn breath.

“Uh,” Kuroo voiced uselessly, taking in that he was seated next to an insanely good looking man who was doomed to witness Kuroo turn into more of a nervous wreck and nuisance whilst stuck next to that for the next sixteenhours. He truly felt sorry for Mr. Good-looking.

The man laughed, the sound was deep and rich with warmth. Kuroo wanted nothing more than to hide. “Here, do you like to read?”

“I read mostly textbooks,” Kuroo answered honestly, glancing down at the book being passed to him, the title being _All She Was Worth_. He took the book and skimmed over the summary. “Crime mystery, huh.”

“My entire collection consists of crime mystery,” the man said rather proudly. “To me, it’s the most gripping kind of story.”

Kuroo breathed a laugh and smiled at the man. “Thanks for this… uh?”

“Sawamura Daichi.”

“Sawamura,” Kuroo echoed, adjusting to the name on his tongue as he gazed at the so-called Sawamura. “Kuroo Tetsurou.”

“Nice to meet you, Kuroo,” Sawamura said with a grin, taking Kuroo’s hand into his own for a handshake. “Scaredy-cat.”

Kuroo’s brow twitched and be involuntarily clenched down onto Sawamura’s hand. He more or less expected it to be returned, but less so of feeling the tangible intent of crushing his hand. The guy had quite the grip. 

“Hilarious, you wanna prey on my suffering?” Kuroo gritted through a smile.

“I love seeing grown men cry on flights,” Sawamura admitted darkly. “What I really want to prey on is whatever the hell is going on… there.” He motioned above Kuroo’s head, Kuroo soon realizing that the focus was on his atrocious hair.

Oh no he didn’t. 

Kuroo released his and Sawamura’s locked death grip and crossed his arms in a pout. “Call it a birth defect.”

“I think it looks a lot worse than that.”

“Would you lay off!” Kuroo whined and turned to the window, Sawamura’s cackle heard closely beside him.

“I’m just kidding! Look, you’ve stopped jigging your damn knee now.”

Kuroo looked down to his knees, noticing that he had indeed halted the repetitive movement. 

“Honestly, I find your hair amazing,” said Sawamura, lacking the jeering tone from earlier. “How did you get it like that?”

Kuroo grew suspicious and narrowed his eyes at Sawamura before he answered. He _had_ to be messing with him, who the hell could call that birds nest amazing? “Untameable bed head, though less a bed head now and more of a generalized mess.”

Kuroo had always thought if he just didn’t sleep on a bed and somehow stood up straight like horses did that he wouldn’t have the problem of waking up to a brand new hairstyle each morning. How wrong he was, his mane taking on an entirely different turn on being ragged and disarrayed from Kuroo’s fried brain cells caused by working too long hours without seeing his bed for days. Hospital chairs were worse than beds, Kuroo found out.

“You've been traveling a lot to not see your pillow?”

“Not really, I get in small bits of sleep at work whenever it goes quiet. It’s always short periods but it’s sufficient.”

“Is it though?” Sawamura snorted. “You look like you don’t sleep at all.”

“Here we go again, this time it’s insulting my face session!”

Sawamura feigned a half-assed gasp. “I would never. What’s your job if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I’m a trainee neurosurgeon. Heading to the U.S for additional training because it’s always good to learn all the techniques.” Kuroo’s gaze shifted to Sawamura, noticing he looked entirely lax in the face and somewhat horrified. “What?”

“I’ve been insulting a neurosurgeon this whole time, Jesus.” 

Kuroo cracked a laugh. “Oh, now I deserve your respect? Lemme see if I can return it, what’s your job?”

“Police officer,” Sawamura answered with a dirty smirk. “Neurosurgeon or not, better watch your mouth.”

Kuroo was ready to try and roast the guy into popcorn before he realized he ran the risk of leaving the flight in cuffs. He scoffed bitterly and gave the damn law enforcement a wide grin. “I’ve committed no crime, officer.”

Sawamura gave a low chuckle and leaned back into his seat. “We’ll see about that.”

The lights appeared to buckle up and put away food trays, the flight attendants giving a demonstration on what to do in an emergency at the top of the row. Kuroo only grew more uneasy and could feel his skin grow uncomfortably damp as his stomach twisted. 

“You okay?” Sawamura asked. “You look a little green.”

“I’m gonna vomit,” Kuroo admitted past his teeth.

He wasn’t joking, and Sawamura didn’t think he was for a moment. He managed to wave down a flight attendant and ask for a bag before turning back to Kuroo to give the paper bag to him. “Just take deep breaths, if you’re gonna spew just let it all out but aim for the bag.”

Kuroo absolutely _did not_ want to throw up on Mr. Good-looking. He fought to find a topic to keep his mind off his terror. “So, uh… what are you going to the U.S for?”

“Sightseeing,” Sawamura said. 

“A lone traveler, huh,” Kuroo noted, breathing through his nose heavily.

“What’s wrong with that? At least I wouldn’t have to worry about a whiney traveling partner who can’t walk for more than twenty minutes without a break,” he laughed.

“Of course, there’s nothing wrong with appreciating the world at your own pace and in solidarity.” 

Sawamura crooned in agreement. “It’s pretty daunting though, jumping into a whole ‘nother country on your own.”

“Tell me about it, I honestly wouldn’t dare leave Japan on my own if it were for something other than career progression.”

“Would have never guessed, you seem like a pretty well off on your own guy,” Sawamura voiced as his eyes surveyed Kuroo as though trying to read his character.

“It’s all an act,” he admitted, finally lowering the paper bag that was muffling his voice. “I’m actually pretty nervous in new places.”

Nervous was putting it lightly, in all honesty, Kuroo was downright horrified to be in new places without a friend to turn to. He sure did manage to improve his confidence back in high school, but moving on from his own tight-knit a safe group of friends rendered him back into his eight-year-old scaredy-cat self. Kuroo wanted to scoff at himself, why on earth was he unraveling so easily to this stranger? 

“You hide it well!” Sawamura praised. “But on a serious note, if you actually find it pretty unbearable I wouldn’t mind keeping you company between my amazingly informative bus tours.”

Kuroo looked towards Sawamura, searching for any snark or jest in the man’s expression. He was surprisingly earnest. “Really?” he asked doubtfully and pretty pathetically.

“I mean— I get we’re not exactly friends yet but hey this sixteen-hour flight gives plenty of room to bond! If you want though, don’t let me force you.”

He shook his head in a flurry. “No, no, I’d really appreciate that actually… thanks, Sawamura.”

Sawamura returned a warm and gentle smile before nodding towards the bag now made at home on Kuroo’s lap. “You feeling better?”

“Better than earlier for sure,” he chuckled. 

“Good, less chance to reek of vomit by the time we get off this plane.”

Kuroo scoffed, flinging the bag over towards Sawamura. “I’ll be sure to throw the full bag as well.”

“Don’t test your luck,” Sawamura warned.

They chatted for hours, even when Kuroo had to fight to keep his burning eyes from slipping shut into oblivion and his body ached from fatigue he wanted to just keep talking. There was something about Sawamura that settled his nerves, something about him that allowed Kuroo to be himself despite only knowing him for mere hours. He felt like a friend he had known for years, someone he could rely on and feel entirely at ease and in a placid mindset. 

Sawamura appeared exhausted himself, and Kuroo realized the feeling of wanting an all-nighter like some school-kid was likely one-sided and he should let the man get some sleep. 

“Tired?” Kuroo asked, the voice coming out in some dreadful drawl as he felt progressively like shit. 

“My God, are you seriously staying awake in competition with me?” Sawamura accused, not sounding so chipper himself. 

“I mean, since you thought of that idea all by yourself I’m gonna assume you’re the one who actually initiated this apparent competition.”

“Oh try me, you look like you’re about to pass out!”

“Says you!”

“I guarantee you’ll be drooling first,” said Sawamura, proud of his own proclaimed abilities to stay awake. 

Drooling in total infatuation, sure. Kuroo was already pool deep into that. “Remember you started this.”

Kuroo found it hilarious that not five minutes after such a declaration of war, Sawamura actually fell asleep first. Not only that, but he was also knocked out on Kuroo’s _shoulder_. He resisted the urge to shift even the tiniest bit, sometimes even to breathe, just to ensure Sawamura wouldn’t move and he would remain there whilst Kuroo fantasized about Mr. Good-looking falling for his non-existent charms. 

What a dream that would be. 

A few hours had passed, and Kuroo was in a drowsy haze of awake and dreaming. He was aware he never really fell fully asleep in that entire duration, flights being his big nemesis and all, he couldn’t risk a moment of total unawareness in the event the unlikely case of impending death occurred. _What kind of logic,_ people asked. Kuroo didn’t even know himself.

Sawamura began to stir beside Kuroo, having made himself perfectly comfortable over Kuroo’s shoulder and occasionally his chest much to Kuroo’s horror. Kuroo watched as the man’s thick lashes blinked open, his waking eyes blind as he didn’t move for a good minute or so before shooting upright in his seat and giving Kuroo a mortified expression.

“Don’t tell me I lost?!”

Honestly, Kuroo expected him to be more bothered about falling asleep on him as that would be something he would shit his pants at the discovery himself, but Sawamura wasn’t entirely a normal guy much to Kuroo’s relief. 

“Hello, you’re competing with the flight-shy guy over here,” Kuroo reminded him. “Like hell I’m falling asleep on this death trap.”

“Okay, fine. This will be your only upper hand,” Sawamura rasped as he rubbed the sleep out of his features. He was unbelievably cute. “At least tell me I didn’t miss food.”

“Only the coffee tray, but I can’t really tell if you’re a coffee guy.”

“Not really. I can tell you are though with those caffeine jitters.”

“Hey,” Kuroo pouted. “It’s not that obvious. It could just be my flight nerves—”

“It’s caffeine.”

“You’re totally right.”

The breakfast run was moving down the aisles, a sign that perked Sawamura up way more than it should perk anyone up. It was as though he had a sixth sense for food to wake up at such a convenient time. 

Kuroo narrowed his gaze, observing the tiny details in the man’s expression that radiated pure exhilaration over mere plane food. “You’re a total foody, right?”

Sawamura’s attention never left the food cart. “Callin’ me fat?”

“Nuh-uh, just a guy who loves his food.”

“Well, I’m not gonna deny that,” he admitted, maybe even a slither bit sheepishly. 

“Foodies are great,” Kuroo commented. “They always know where the best food is. But I gotta say, plane food, really?”

“Food is food!” he objected. “I mean I do have that particular talent for sniffing out the best food but we gotta make do with what we got here right?”

“Appreciation for all, how humble.”

Sawamura awarded Kuroo with a deep chuckle. “I’ll display my talents in New York. Give me a day and I’ll have all the best restaurants memorized.” 

Kuroo wriggled his brows. “Is it a date Sawamura?” He wondered briefly if he overstepped.

Sawamura slipped a smirk towards Kuroo, raising up a brow. “It’ll be the best date. I doubt you’d find a better place.”

Kuroo snorted. “Oh wow, what’s with you and competitions?”

“Competition runs through my veins, I can’t resist with someone who resonates with the competitiveness.” 

“Who said I was—”

“You definitely are! You’re taking on all my challenges but may I remind you that you’ve won at like one so far. I guess it’s admirable to see someone so determined,” he jeered with that pearly flash of a dirty grin.

He scowled in retort. “No, no, way more than that.”

“Delusional.”

“I can’t believe I got seated next to such a sore loser that he’s gotta resort to plain lies.”

Sawamura laughed at him. “Seriously? Hey, you’d be a tragic mess if I weren’t next to you, who else is gonna agree to sit next to a ticking spew bomb?”

Right, Kuroo wondered how the flight would have turned out if his assigned seat had just been a few rows different. He didn’t step onto that plane and expected to make a friend, let alone crush on his seat neighbor. “You’re a good guy.”

“Huh?” Sawamura’s attention was momentarily derived as the flight attendant approached their row. 

“Said you’re a good guy,” Kuroo repeated, wanting to hide his face as he felt the heat creep beneath his skin. “Thanks for not abandoning me, I guess I looked pretty hopeless in the first ten minutes of our meeting.”

He seemed to take a moment to register to heartfelt appreciation, as though the fact wasn’t something he was already vividly aware of. Eventually, his lips slipped into a thankful smile. “Not at all, you’ve been a pleasure to sit next to. I should thank you for being such a fun company, it’s not every day I meet someone to insult and still remain on a somewhat friendly basis.”

“Ha-ha,” Kuroo mocked. “Likewise.”

Kuroo gazed outside the window as the flight neared the ground in dread, the flight drawing to its end. He could have sworn he mis-thought his own thoughts, baffled by the fact he did not actually want the flight to end. He supposed he could do without the constant fear and dread crushing his chest cavity, but somehow being with Sawamura made it all bearable to the point of living with it. He hoped Sawamura was entirely serious about hanging out between their free time.

He had felt lethargic and corpse-like as he untangled himself from his seat and followed the crowd to exit the aircraft mindlessly, his eyes fixated onto the shorter man walking ahead of him. 

“Bet’cha glad that’s all over now, huh?” Sawamura asked as they arrived into the spacious airport, a godsend to Kuroo’s anxiety of being in such a cramped space for that horrendously long period of time. 

“I’m glad to be off of that death device, sure,” Kuroo mumbled, feeling like a kicked puppy as he looked into Sawamura’s deep brown eyes, searching for a reason to stand there for another sixteen hours and talk to him. “We’re parting here I guess?”

Sawamura stared at him for a moment before yanking out his phone. “Give me your number. I’ll find you on LINE.”

Kuroo felt utter dumbfounded for a moment before realizing this was real. He hurriedly recited his number to Sawamura and watched both curiously and eagerly as Sawamura repeated it into his phone. This was happening, Sawamura had his number— Kuroo’s phone buzzed in his pocket, a message from Sawamura.

_Let’s go on a date?_

Kuroo had Sawamura’s number and— wait, did he seriously just ask that?

He laughed a somewhat ugly sound out of total incredulity and a harsh mix of fluttering feelings beating out of his chest. It was a feeling worse than what he felt on the plane, but the difference was that it hurt so _good._

_Yeah, definitely._

**Author's Note:**

> I finally wrote KuroDai, woo!  
> I hope I didn't butcher this lovely ship because I definitely want to write more of them.


End file.
